Trojans topple Clippers in season opener

By Colton Pankiw
SAIT Trojans student writer
CALGARY, ALTA (NOV. 13, 2021) A hard fought battle went in the SAIT Trojans favour Saturday night.

Saturday night marked a fiery contest between the Trojans men's hockey team and the visiting Briercrest Clippers, with SAIT coming out on top 5-2 in their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) season-opening game. SAIT moves to 1-0 on the season, while the Clippers fall to 0-1-1

The Trojans were able to get things going quickly early on, as Carson Welke was able to score on the first shot of the game on a great feed from his twin brother, Mckenzie Welke.

Briercrest turned it up after giving up the opening goal, and had several opportunities to tie the game shortly after but were turned away by Trojans goaltender Trevor Martin. They were able to solve him at the midway point of the period however, as Halen Cordoni hammered a point shot home to tie the game.

The two teams then traded goals over the next few minutes, as the Trojans went ahead briefly on a great individual effort from Zachary Huber who was able to cut in on net and put a backhand past Clippers goaltender Kolter Pawlick. Almost immediately after, the Clippers capitalized on yet another power play, this time on a goal courtesy of Trey Doell on another big shot from the point.

The second period lacked the offence that the first provided, though it made up for it in physicality, as the game became very chippy and remained that way until the end. The Trojans controlled the play for good chunks of the second frame, but were unable to get anything by Pawlick, who made several key saves to keep his team tied 1-1 heading into the third.

The Trojans were able to jump out ahead early in the final frame, as Taden Rattie beat Pawlick five hole on a play assisted by Braydon Jenkins and Huber. They were able to extend that lead to 4-2 later on thanks to a Mark Drohan power play tally with assists going to Huber and Carson Welke.

The game was officially sealed just moments after, as Carson Welke shot the puck the length of the ice for an empty net goal with just over 30 seconds remaining. That would hold up as the final score, and as a result the Trojans were able to improve their record on the season to 2-4-0, thanks in large part to Huber who's four points on the night earned him his team's player of the game award.